Method of and apparatus for handling rail wagons



1 R. BELLINGER ET AL 3,463,333

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING RAIL WAGONS Filed Jan. 30. 19s? 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Walt 0L 19 E51. 1. M/G' 9Q, Ge A/f/Hf E mL Mp 5/9 )0. E

I A1 VEA/ M195 26, 1969 R. BELLINGER ETAL 3,463,333

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING RAIL WAGONS Filed Jan. 30, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING RAIL WAGONS Filed Jan. 30, 1967 6, 1969 R. BELLINGER ETAL 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING RAIL WAGONS Filed Jan. 30. 1967 R. BELLINGER ETAL Aug. 26, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 won/#40 65 1.1. m/s 5/6 len/m Ewan e p 3690. 5/

United States Patent 3,463,333 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING RAIL WAGONS Ronald Bellinger and Graham Edward Bayley, l r1 stol,

England, assignors to Strachan & Henshaw Limited,

Bristol, England, a company of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Filed Jan. 30, 1967, Ser. No. 612,542

Int. Cl. B65g 67/42 US. Cl. 214-55 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for handling rail wagons wherein the portion of track on which the wagon is positioned is tiltably mounted in the apparatus and means have to be provided for retaining the wagon on said rail track.

In the case of tipplers the usual method is to provide a top-stop which engages the top of the wagon body and means are provided for causing the top-stop to apply to the top of the wagon body a sufficient force to keep the wagon wheels in contact with the rails section on which it is positioned. Such means are frequently a counterbalance weight which automatically brings the top-stop int-o the operative position as the tippler platform is turned.

One of the disadvantages of using a top-stop is that it interrupts the flow of material from the wagon. The height of Wagons vary considerably.

It is also known to provide a coupler clamp and holddown apparatus for car dumpers by which a downward pressure is applied to the top of the coupler head. This, however, has the disadvantage that as the wagon is unloaded, the downward pressure is increased as the wagon chassis rises under the reduced load so that the coupler can become damaged. For the purpose of overcoming this difficulty, it has been suggested to eliminate the initial hold-down pressure on the top of the coupler, This device, however, is not satisfactory because the holding down force must still increase as the wagon discharges. According to the present invention there is provided the method of preserving a rail wagon body against damage by holding down means whilst being inverted or tilted which consists in engaging the sprung part of the wagon chassis with engaging members and drawing said engaging members towards the rails on which the wagon is standing.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for holding a wagon on its rails whilst being inverted or tilted which comprises movable wagon chassis engaging means, means for moving said wagon-chassis engaging means from an operative to an inoperative position and back and means for drawin said wagon chassis engaging means towards said rail whilst engaged with said wagon-chassis. The chassis engaging ice means may engage the buders or coupling means provided at the ends of the wagon chassis.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is an end elevation of one form of rotary wagon tippler made in accordance with the present invention, in wagon receiving position;

FIGURES 2 and 2A show a front elevation of the tippler shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 with the tippler turned to the wagon inverted position.

In the form shown in the drawings the tippler which is designed to handle wagons varying in length between 42 feet and 65 feet from the end of one centrally disposed coupling device to the end of the other, comprises a fabricated base 2 on which are mounted at each end a pair of support rollers 4 (FIGS. 1 and 3) carried on a swinging arm 6 pivotally supported in a bracket 8 secured to the base 2 at the front thereof whilst a single roller 10 is supported in a bracket 12 at the back of said base said six rollers forming the support means for the arcuate end members 14 of the fabricated rotatable tip pler frame 16 (FIG. 2). The arcuate end members 14 carry arcuate toothed racks 1-7. A drive shaft 18 supported at intervals in bearings 20 is coupled to a reduction gear assembly 22 and v24 driven by an electric motor, and said shaft 18 also carries pinion 26 which are meshed with the toothed racks 17 of the arcuate end members 14.

The arcuate end members 14 are joined together by numerous longitudinal members which are shown but not numbered as the construction is conventional and these together form the tippler frame 116. The wagon receiving platform indicated generally at 28 comprises two longitudinal members 30 supporting rails 32 on which the wagon is adapted to run. The two longitudinal members are held in spaced relation by pairs of end cross members 34 supporting between the members of each pair a shaft 36 journalled in a bearing 38 mounted on the end members 14 so that the whole of the platform 28 can make a slight angular movement the object of which is to allow a wagon thereon to come into side contact with the side stop 40 (FIGS. 1 and 3) in the usual manner.

Disposed at each end of the platform 28 between the rails is the wagon chassis engaging means indicated generally at 42 each comprising a carriage 44 having wheels 46 running in guides 48 carried by supplementary longitudinal members 50 attached to the main longitudinal members 30. It will be seen that the outer ends of the guides 48 are curved downwards through 90 with the result that the carriage 44 is turned through the same angle when it moves into the turned down portion of the guides 48. Mounted on the carriage 44 is an arm 52 with a spade shaped end 54 which is recessed on its inwardly directed face to provide a recess 56 to receive and engage over the central coupling member 58 of a wagon 60 the ends only of which are indicated. The arm and coupling member at the other end are indicated at 52' and 58 in the inner position for a wagon of minimum length.

The means at each end for moving said wagon-end engaging means comprises a lead screw 62 carried in bearings 64- the inner end of each said lead screw being coupled to a common motor 66 by a shaft 68, universal joints 70 and 72 and a reduction gear 74. The motor 66 is located below the level of the rails 32. Instead of having a single motor 66 two motors may be used. Limit switches 76 (FIG. 1) are mounted on the arms 52 within the recesses 56 which are pressure sensitive so that when the pressure against both the coupling members 58 reaches a predetermined value the motor 66 is de-energised. Obviously this only occurs when the wagon is centralised on the platform 28 and both arms are engaged with the coupling members. A control switch (not shown) is provided for starting and reversing the motor 66. It will be obvious that when the wagon is engaged by one of said arms 52 it will be moved towards the other and that when the couplings are engaged by both arms both the limit switches will be actuated.

The means for drawing said wagon end engaging means namely the arms 52 towards the rails 32 will now be described. The guides 48 are supported in the slides 78 perpendicular to the rails 32 said slides 78 being carried by the longitudinal members 50 which are attached to the longitudinal members 30. Brackets 80 secured to the underside of the guides 48 are each pivotally connected by links 82 to one arm 84 of a two arm lever 86 pivoted at 88 the other arm of which carries a counterweight 90. As will be seen from FIG. 3 when the tippler is operated the counterweight 90 through the lever 86 and links 82. applies a force to the guides 48 and through the arms 52 to the coupling member 58 to draw the wagon 60 down onto the rails 32. It will be noted that the centre line of the wagon is slightly ofi-set with relation to the axis of the spigot 36. This is normal practice and it is usual to provide locking means which hold the platform 28 against tilting until released which is of course only done when the wagon is in the desired position on the platform 28.

With a wagon holding down constructed as above described the top of the wagon is left completely clear thereby in no way obstructing the free flow of material from the wagon.

Whilst the invention has been described with special reference to a tippler the above described method of wagon retention can be applied to any type of wagon tippler and to Wagon tilting apparatus for end discharge wagons and any other wagon handling apparatus requiring the wagon to be held onto its rails.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. Apparatus for holding a wagon on its rails while being inverted or tilted, said wagon having a chassis supporting a wagon body which comprises:

(a) a tiltable platform having wagon-receiving rails thereon;

(b) movable wagon-chassis-engaging means carried by said platform;

() means on said platform for moving said wagonchassis engaging means from a disengaged to an engaged position and vice versa; and

(d) counterweighbactuated hold-down means for drawing said wagon-chassis-engaging means towards said rail while engaged with said wagon-chassis; said (e) counterweight actuated hold-down means being sensitive to, and increasing with, platform tilt.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said chassis engaging means each engage one of the two ends of said wagon chassis.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said chassis engaging means enage the buffers on said wagon chassis.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said chassis engaging means engage the wagon couplings on said wagon chassis.

5. Apparatus for handling a wagon having a coupling comprising:

(a) fixed frame;

(b) a wagon receiving platform tiltably mounted on said frame;

(0) means on said frame for tilting said platform;

(d) a movable wagon coupling engaging member on said platform; and

(e) counterweight-actuated hold-down means on said platform for drawing said wagon-coupling member towards said platform for holding said wagon onto said platform.

6. A wagon tippler for a wagon having a coupler at each end for coupling to adjacent wagons comprising:

(a) afixedframe;

(b) a wagon receiving movable frame pivotally supported on said fixed frame;

.(c) driving means on said fixed frame for moving said movable frame from a wagon receiving loading position to a wagon inverted position;

(d) movable wagon-coupler-engaging-support-means on said movable frame;

(e) means on said platform for moving said means defined in (d) from a position clear of the path of a wagon onto and off said platform to an upright wagon-coupler-engaging position;

(f) counterweight-actuated hold-down means on said platform for drawing said means defined in (d) towards said platform while engaged with said wagon couplings.

7. A tippler according to claim 6 wherein said platform is provided with wagon receiving rails and said movable wagon-coupler-engaging support means are arranged between said rails.

8. A wagon tippler according to claim 6 wherein said movable wagon-coupler-engaging support means are lowered to a position clear of said wagon.

9. A wagon tippler for a wagon having a coupler at each end for coupling to adjacent wagons comprising:

(a) a fixed frame;

(b) a wagon receiving movable frame pivotally supported on said fixed frame;

(c) driving means on said fixed frame for moving said movable frame from a wagon receiving loading position to a wagon inverted position;

(d) movable wagoni-coupler-engaging-support means! on said movable frame; I

(e) means on said platform for moving said means defined in (d) from a position clear of the path of a wagon onto and off said platform to an upright wagon-coupler-engaging position; and

( f) counterweight-actuated hold-down means on said platform for drawing said means defined in (d) towards said platform while engaged with said wagon couplings, said hold-down means including a counter balance weight actuated by tilting said moving frame.

10. Apparatus for handling a wagon having a coupling comprising:

(a) a fixed frame;

(b) a wagon receiving platform tiltably mounted on said frame;

(c) means on said frame for tilting said platform;

((1) a movable wagon coupling engaging member on said platform; and

(e) a weighted lever aflixed to said platform for drawing said wagon-coupling engaging member towards said platform for holding said Wagon onto said platform.

11. The method of holding down a wagon on a tiltable platform which wagon has a chassis which includes a spring portion supporting a wagon body, which consists of:

(a) applying leverage counterbalance weight to produce a hold-down force;

(b) applying the hold-down force directly to the sprung portion of said wagon chassis; and

(c) increasing the force exerted by said weight as desired by increasing the tilt of said platform.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,253,068 1/1918 McMyler 21455 2,814,400 11/1957 Hague 214-55 3,004,499 10/1961 Straight 214-55 2,465,502 3/1949 White 2l455 ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 214- 152 

